1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method of holding containers on a support area using at least one stowage component that is secured on the support area and is introduced with its guide piece into an aperture that is provided in a surface of a container facing the support area.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, for transporting goods, containers are used which are fitted at their eight corners with so-called corner castings. These are constructively integrated in the other containers in such a way that the forces introduced via the corner castings are capable of holding the container at a provided site on a support, preferably consisting of containers underneath. Provided in the corner castings, which are formed similarly to the entire container as a rule according to International Standards (ISO), are openings, through which stowage components are introduced into a space enclosed by the corner casting, and can be locked therewith.
Stowage components of the type discussed here have been the subject of lively development activity in the course of time. Many different types of stowage components exist. Many of them are fitted with a pivot, which after its introduction into the inner space of a corner casting is rotated and thus securely connects the corner casting and thereby the entire container to a support, for example a ship""s deck or at least one container located beneath the container to be secured. Such stowage components, termed twistlocks, have proved their worth in practice. However, they encounter difficulties at those points which are difficult to reach during loading and/or unloading of the containers. Principal among these are the so-called 20-foot ISO container joints. These difficulties rise due to the fact that two containers at 20 feet each must be deposited on a stand site provided for one 40-foot container. In this case there is between the two 20-foot containers a joint of 3 inches wide (76 mm). This joint is too narrow to permit human activation. For this reason, attempts have been made for a long time to provide a locking system for the containers in the area of this joint, which is independent of human activity.
For this purpose stowage components converted from other areas of use were used, these however being extremely difficult to use, as they may be easily confused and have a strength which lies only at the lowest acceptable threshold. A further substantial disadvantage is the geometry of these parts, dictated by their function. They must project higher above or below the container corners, than the locking devices lying opposite, for example twistlocks or so-called semi-automatic twistlocks (SAT). Only in this way is it ensured that the attachment parts present in the area of the ISO container standard joint are initially locked upon placing of the container, before the twistlocks can be locked. In the case of containers and/or ships which must be loaded in the longitudinal direction, if this sequence cannot be guaranteed, considerable problems frequently arise in opening the jammed stowage components.
The object of the present invention is therefore to improve a stowage component of the type initially named in such a way that with its aid locking and/or unlocking of containers is generally simplified, and in particular in the area of the ISO 20-foot joint.
This object is achieved by a stowage component comprising a guide piece for locking a container relative to a support area, the guide piece being lockable into an aperture in a container as disclosed in more detail below. By virtue of the fact that the connection between the guide piece of the stowage component and the aperture, particularly in the corner casting of the respective container, is optionally possible by means of a traction drive, for example a traction cable, or a relative movement of the container is possible relative to the guide piece, containers can be connected to a support area, in particular at least one container located underneath, with one and the same stowage component, and these above all can also be released, if only a small joint is present between adjacent containers, which does not permit manual activation of the traction drive and of the corresponding stowage components.
With the aid of such a stowage component a container may be automatically locked in the region of a support area, upon which the container is to be deposited. In this respect there are regarded as a support area in particular the floors of ships"" holds, ship decks and the upper sides of other containers, upon which a container to be loaded is to be deposited. In addition, other support areas may be envisaged, for example stowage areas upon which containers are to be stowed on land.
The bolt is relatively easy to displace within its guide means, so that relatively small forces are sufficient in order to undertake this displacement. In addition, relatively small forces are sufficient in order to push the bolt out of its locked position back into its unlocked position. As a rule, spring forces are available for this purpose.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bolt is acted upon in a locked position by a force acting on its control end facing away from the locking end. In this case the bolt extends through a guide means extending through the entire guide piece, so that it can be acted upon at both ends in order to execute movements.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the control end in the locked position is acted upon by the container which is lowered onto the support area. By means of this control of the bolt it is possible to control the locking movement in dependence on the movement of the container to be locked.
A further stowage component for achieving the purpose already mentioned comprises a guide piece that is lockable in an aperture in a container by means of a bolt that is mounted to be displaceable into a locked position in the guide means extending in the guide piece, and in which a locking end of the bolt projects out of the guide means into the aperture, and the bolt extends obliquely to a plane spanned by the support area in such a way that the spacing between the bolt and the support area increases towards its locking end. By means of the bolt extending obliquely to the plane of the support area of containers, it is possible, by means of tilting the container into which the guide piece with the bolt projects, to disengage the rear side of the guide piece aligned away from the anchoring end of the bolt from the aperture in the container. In this way a relative displacement of the container to the guide piece can be induced, resulting in uncoupling the stowage component from the container. In this way the stowage component can be released or uncoupled from the container without the necessity manually to operate a traction drive of the stowage component. Furthermore, a situation is achieved by a stowage component with the features of claim 4 in which the guide means extends obliquely to a plane spanned by the support area. The bolt opens with its control end into this plane, and the locking end lies above the plane with a spacing therefrom, which corresponds to the locking position provided in the aperture. In this way a situation is achieved in which the control end of the bolt is acted upon only when the container is lowered, when the locking end can be pushed into the locking position.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the bolt is acted upon by a spring force displacing it in the direction towards the unlocked position. In this way a situation is achieved in which, after removal of load from the control end, the spring force is placed in a position of pushing the bolt back into the unlocked position.
The four different embodiments of the bolt may all be basically envisaged. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the bolt is of a one-piece design. In this form it is pushed by the descending container by its control end as far into the guide means as it projects at its locking end out of the guide means. This embodiment is simple, and as a rule during operation gives rise to no problems.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention the bolt consists of at least two parts located one behind the other in the longitudinal direction, which act upon one another when pushing movements take place within the guide means. In this embodiment of the invention, the rear part undertaking the locking is pressed by a compression spring into the locked position, when the container to be locked acts upon the control end in the direction of the guide means. In this way the rear part undertaking the locking is resiliently housed within the guide means, so that even during difficult loading activities, for example when there is a considerable wind pressure acting on the container, it can react resiliently to every eventuality.
According to a third preferred embodiment of the invention, the rear part facing the locking end is provided with a mechanism for locking and unlocking. Such a mechanism has the great advantage that manual unlocking can be undertaken should it not yet be intended to move the container to be unlocked. In this way a stowage component is provided which can be used in the area of the accessible end of a container instead of a twistlock for example. On the other hand this stowage component also permits fully automatic control with the aid of the control end, its movements being capable of being influenced by lowering and raising the container.
Finally, a considerable simplification of the bolt is achieved in that it only extends through a portion of the guide means facing the locking end out of which the bolt projects with its locking end. In this case the opposed end of the guide means is closed, so that a spring acting on the bolt can be supported thereon. The great advantage of this embodiment resides in the fact that a guide edge of the aperture in the corner casting of the container, when the latter is lowered, slides over a slide surface provided at the locking end of the bolt, and thus pushes the bolt into the guide means contrary to the force of the compression spring. This latter pushes the locking end into the locked position, as soon as the container has been fully lowered and the guide edge has passed the locking end. Now the bolt can only be displaced with the aid of a handle or a traction drive, particularly a traction cable or the like, which imparts to the stowage component the property of an SAT.
A cable forming the traction drive can be provided at the free end with a knob-like handle. The length of the portion of the cable projecting out of the stowage component when the stowage component is locked is such that, in a narrow joint between adjacent containers, the knob is housed to a sufficient extent, i.e. entirely or partly, in a lateral upright aperture, particularly in the corner casting of the container carrying the stowage component. In this way the knob-like handle is protected from damage in a narrow joint, and is prevented from counteracting coupling together of the containers.
A method for achieving the purpose already mentioned comprises connecting all four corners of the container with substantially identical stowage components to the support area or at least one lower container, and, for releasing the container from the support area or the at least one other container, two stowage components are opened on one side of the container by traction drives, and the container is raised at one side on the side of these released stowage components, and is thereby tilted, the locked condition of the two other stowage components being releasable by means of this tilting. According to this, in order to connect or couple together the containers or to couple them to a support area, identical stowage components are used. According to the invention, four identical stowage components are associated with the four corners of a container. By means of corresponding design of the stowage components it is possible to uncouple, i.e. release one container from containers lying underneath or from a support area, the locked condition of the stowage components on one side of the container which is freely accessible being released by actuating the handle of the cable or a similar traction drive. In this way the upper container can be tilted, so that it is releasable also from the two other stowage components without the necessity to open these in the area of a narrow inaccessible joint between adjacent containers by actuating the traction drive. In this way also a container may be uncoupled from containers lying underneath or from a support area even in inaccessible places.
Further details of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the annexed drawings, which show preferred embodiments of the invention by way of example.